The Lucians were an Italian tribe that came into conflict with the cities of Magna Graecia when they moved south in the mid fourth century BC In the battle of Mandonia, the Spartan King Archidamus III, who had led a mercenary force of mainland Greeks in support of Tarentum, was killed and routed. Five years later, Alexander of Epirus, the uncle of Alexander the Great, led another force in support of Magna Gracia, but he too was killed in action. Fifty years later, when Pyrrhus led an army to the aid of Tarentum, this time against Rome, the Lucian tribes, who had fought on the side of the Samnites against Rome during in the interim, elected to join with their old enemy Tarentum against Rome.
| Date | Battle Summary | |
|---|---|---|
| Battle of Mandonia
Lucanians victory
Fought B.C. 338, between the Italian Greeks, under Archidamus, King of Sparta, and the Lucanians. The Greeks were defeated, and Archidamus slain. | ||
| Battle of Pandosia (Conquest of India )
Lucanians victory
Fought B.C. 331, between the Italian Greeks, under Alexander of Epirus, and the Lucanians. During the battle Alexander was stabbed by a Lucanian exile serving in the Greek army, and the Greeks were in the end defeated. | ||
| Spartan King who fought against Thebes during the Boeotian Wars. | |
| Uncle of Alexander the Great. King of Epirus. Campaigned in Italy, but killed at Pandosia. |